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The relation between forest clearance and household income among native Amazonians: Results from the Tsimane' Amazonian panel study, Bolivia

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  • Godoy, Ricardo
  • Reyes-García, Victoria
  • Vadez, Vincent
  • Leonard, William R.
  • Tanner, Susan
  • Huanca, Toms
  • Wilkie, David

Abstract

The Amazon rain forest harbors some of the world's richest biological diversity. During the twentieth century, two types of actors cleared that forest: native Amazonians and outside encroachers. Of the two actors, we know more about what drives outside encroachers to clear forest than about what drives native Amazonians to clear forest. The past research focus has served well because during the twentieth century outside encroachers cleared most of the Amazonian forest. But the past research focus needs to be expanded because native Amazonians are claiming de jure stewardship of the forests they inhabit, and with tighter jurisdiction over those forests will likely come changes in the amount of forest native Amazonians clear. Prior research in rural areas of low-income nations suggests that household income affects household forest clearance. To estimate the effects of household real income on the total forest area (old-growth+fallow) cleared by households we use a panel composed of five annual household surveys (2002-2006, inclusive) from 324 households of a native Amazonian society in Bolivia (Tsimane'). We control for household and village fixed effects and use an instrumental variable for household income. We find positive and significant household real income elasticities of forest clearance of 0.35 and 0.47 and an increase in forest clearance of 5.3%/year. The main finding stood up well to sensitivity analysis. These estimates suggest that in the near future, the forest in the Tsimane' territory will likely face increasing pressure from the Tsimane' themselves, not just from outside encroachers.

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  • Godoy, Ricardo & Reyes-García, Victoria & Vadez, Vincent & Leonard, William R. & Tanner, Susan & Huanca, Toms & Wilkie, David, 2009. "The relation between forest clearance and household income among native Amazonians: Results from the Tsimane' Amazonian panel study, Bolivia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1864-1871, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:68:y:2009:i:6:p:1864-1871
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Tanui, Joseph & Groeneveld, Rolf & Klomp, Jeroen & Mowo, Jeremiahs & Ierland, Ekko C. van, 2013. "Explaining investments in sustainable land management: The role of various income sources in the smallholder farming systems of western Kenya," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161275, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    2. Perge, Emilie & McKay, Andy, 2016. "Forest clearing, livelihood strategies and welfare: Evidence from the Tsimane' in Bolivia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 112-124.
    3. Caviglia-Harris, Jill & Sills, Erin & Bell, Andrew & Harris, Daniel & Mullan, Katrina & Roberts, Dar, 2016. "Busting the Boom–Bust Pattern of Development in the Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 82-96.
    4. Glenn Bush & Nick Hanley & Mirko Moro & Daniel Rondeau, 2013. "Measuring the Local Costs of Conservation: A Provision Point Mechanism for Eliciting Willingness to Accept Compensation," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(3), pages 490-513.
    5. Elisabeth Hettig & Jann Lay & Kacana Sipangule, 2016. "Drivers of Households’ Land-Use Decisions: A Critical Review of Micro-Level Studies in Tropical Regions," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-32, October.
    6. Huixia Zhao & Emi Uchida & Xiangzheng Deng & Scott Rozelle, 2011. "Do Trees Grow with the Economy? A Spatial Analysis of the Determinants of Forest Cover Change in Sichuan, China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 50(1), pages 61-82, September.
    7. Godoy, Ricardo & Magvanjav, Oyunbileg & Nyberg, Colleen & Eisenberg, Dan T.A. & McDade, Thomas W. & Leonard, William R. & Reyes-García, Victoria & Huanca, Tomás & Tanner, Susan & Gravlee, Clarence, 2010. "Why no adult stunting penalty or height premium?: Estimates from native Amazonians in Bolivia," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 88-99, March.
    8. You, Jing & Kontoleon, Andreas & Wang, Sangui, 2015. "Identifying a Sustainable Pathway to Household Multi-dimensional Poverty Reduction in Rural China," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211865, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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